Name : Dave Kehr / Alias : Chicago Reader
Griffith's later films are unquestionably superior. But here, in a very real sense, is where the movies began, both as an art and as a business.

Name : Bilge Ebiri / Alias : New York Magazine/Vulture
More than a movie about a slave rebellion, it's about the difficulty of reconciling the great moral chasms between thought, vision, and deed.

Name : Alison Willmore / Alias : BuzzFeed News
Turner deserves this treatment; he deserves a film that doesn't soften the era or apologize in any way for his anger; and he deserves a salute for making it happen.

Name : Justin Chang / Alias : Variety
Debuting writer-director Nate Parker stars in this searingly impressive account of the Nat Turner slave rebellion.

Name : Variety Staff / Alias : Variety
Birth of a Nation is a great epoch in picture making; it's great for pictures and it's great for the name and fame of David Wark Griffith. When a man like Griffith in a new field can do what he has done, he may as well be hailed while he is living.

Name : Richard Brody / Alias : New Yorker
Problematically, Birth of a Nation wasn't just a seminal commercial spectacle but also a decisively original work of art - in effect, the founding work of cinematic realism, albeit a work that was developed to pass lies off as reality.

Name : Todd McCarthy / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
The film offers up more than enough in terms of intelligence, insight, historical research and religious nuance as to not at all be considered a missed opportunity .

Name : Ty Burr / Alias : Boston Globe
While it hits predictable beats of uplift, the triumphs are often measured out painfully, and the heroine faces barriers of class, gender, and crippling self-doubt.

Name : Joe Morgenstern / Alias : Wall Street Journal
The film as a whole conveys a strong sense of discovery, and humanity.

Name : Adam Graham / Alias : Detroit News
In the movie, Phiona can see eight moves ahead, and "Queen of Katwe" often feels the same: You know what's coming, but it doesn't dilute the feeling of victory.

Name : A.O. Scott / Alias : New York Times
If there is anyone out there capable of remaining unmoved by this true-life triumph-of-the-underdog sports story, I don't think I want to meet that person.

Name : Stephen Whitty / Alias : New York Daily News
Although the script is a little flat - just because the story is true doesn't mean it should feel so predictable - Nair gives the film tons of energy and joy.

Name : Rafer Guzman / Alias : Newsday
Predictable and very Disneyfied, but Mutesi's remarkable story carries the day.

Name : Michael Phillips / Alias : Chicago Tribune
Nair's film, her best in a long time, is hardly the first to use a chessboard as a symbol of one life's struggles. It is, however, one of the best.

Name : Moira MacDonald / Alias : Seattle Times
Just try to resist the charms of Mira Nair's "Queen of Katwe," a triumph-of-the-human-spirit movie that's ultimately, well, triumphant.

Name : Leah Pickett / Alias : Chicago Reader
David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong'o are reliably superb in the critical supporting roles of Mutesi's chess coach and young mother, respectively.

Name : Brian Tallerico / Alias : RogerEbert.com
The story of Phiona Mutesi is a fascinating one on its own, but what could have just been an extended "30 For 30" feels lived-in, compassionate and truthful.

Name : David Lewis / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
Chess is not the most visual of games, but Nair makes these competitions come alive. She also gets the most out of her mostly nonprofessional African cast, not to mention her two stars, Oyelowo and Nyong'o.

Name : Peter Rainer / Alias : Christian Science Monitor
[Nair] manages to do justice to these people's lives, and when, at the end, the real-life characters show up on-screen and stand smiling beside their actor counterparts, the screen lights up along with the audience.

Name : Calvin Wilson / Alias : St. Louis Post-Dispatch
What redeems "Queen of Katwe" is the performance of Oyelowo, who imbues Katende with an exhilarating blend of humor and humanity.

Name : Sara Stewart / Alias : New York Post
Sometimes, it's enough to walk out of a film with your heart warmed - even if your brain's still craving a little something more.

Name : Peter Howell / Alias : Toronto Star
There's much to cheer about a movie with such a diverse cast of talent both familiar and new, set in a land that all too often is depicted on screen as a place of war and hopelessness.

Name : Katie Rife / Alias : AV Club
Director Mira Nair has a proven ability to find beauty in the most desperate of circumstances, and Queen Of Katwe is no different.

Name : Richard Roeper / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
It's a team effort, and even though we know this playbook by heart, cheers all around.

Name : Bilge Ebiri / Alias : Village Voice
Queen of Katwe is a true-life tale transformed into an inspirational fable. That's not novel for the movies, but in this director's hands, the results are mostly enchanting.

Name : Scott Tobias / Alias : NPR
What sets Queen of Katwe apart from other inspirational stories of its kind is that Phiona's dreams are a double-edged sword.

Name : Joe McGovern / Alias : Entertainment Weekly
Nyong'o's gravitas is undercut by a script teeming with wooden platitudes, special lessons learned, and the overbaked dialogue of a Joan Crawford melodrama.

Name : Claudia Puig / Alias : TheWrap
This humanistic tale, helmed by a masterful filmmaker, offers a potent - and yes, inspirational - story of triumph against huge odds.

Name : Rex Reed / Alias : New York Observer
The story is true, and the message it delivers-with care and help, the disenfranchised can become role models and inspire others-is unabashedly sentimental, but in a good way.

Name : Peter Travers / Alias : Rolling Stone
Directed by the great Mira Nair, the film hits you like a shot in the heart. Nyong'o and Oyelowo are both extraordinary, giving newcomer Nalwanga a chance to shine as Phiona grows into her own woman.

Name : Eric Kohn / Alias : indieWIRE
By treating its outcome like a foregone conclusion, Queen of Katwe underserves the built-in power of its exultant tale.

Name : Matthew Lickona / Alias : San Diego Reader
Director Mira Nair knows just how to deploy her excellent cast, giving weight to the drama of both Mom and coach without ever forgetting her sweet young queen.

Name : Tirdad Derakhshani / Alias : Philadelphia Inquirer
Ultimately, Queen of Katwe fosters a belief in the triumph of merit and talent. And that message is definitely applicable - to Western kids.

Name : Cath Clarke / Alias : Time Out
Prepare to have your heartstrings plucked.

Name : Dana Stevens / Alias : Slate
Queen of Katwe's originality comes not in its story but in its setting, explored by Nair with her usual skill at establishing a sense of place.

Name : Katie Walsh / Alias : Tribune News Service
An uplifting and emotional story rendered with a lively vibrancy by Nair and her stars

Name : Brian Truitt / Alias : USA Today
It deals in a world of pawns rather than punches but Queen of Katwe is just as uplifting and feel-good a sports drama as any Rocky movie.

Name : Jim Slotek / Alias : Toronto Sun
There are no real villains, save for a few snobby bureaucrats. Emotional buttons are occasionally pushed a little hard. But true to her reputation, Nair delivers something a little better than one expects of the genre.

Name : Geoff Berkshire / Alias : Variety
Quietly radical in enough ways to make you cheer despite the cliches.

Name : Sheri Linden / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
Hits every note of plucky positivity so squarely on the head that it leaves little room for audience involvement.

Name : Stephanie Merry / Alias : Washington Post
Subtlety isn't the strong suit of "Queen of Katwe." But beneath the hackneyed aphorisms, there's a thrilling story worthy of our attention.